Who is Raven?

After nearly 20 years teaching martial arts and self-defense to women, girls, and others who have been overpowered and underrepresented in society Raven founder, Amanda Miller, grew aware of a need to drive a proactive shift in the way power and resources are distributed in our communities.

Rather than continue to do the good, but reactive, work of empowering the underpowered with the skills and mindset to safely navigate a world that has become increasingly threatening; Amanda has pivoted to build on her life experiences of overcoming poverty and trauma, competing at an international level, and leading a community all while devoting herself to growth as a thinker, citizen, and mom.

Amanda is using her accumulative life experience to help underrepresented and overpowered makers and doers create and sustain momentum on the way to idea- and self-actualization by minimizing wheel spinning and acting as a supportive, empowering, and intuitive accountability partner.

Meet with Amanda now (for free) to see if she is the right fit to help you create your roadmap to your unique version of success.

History of the Founder

In 2002, Amanda opened a martial arts school as a side gig which eventually grew into something far greater. With her at the helm the business boomed and a community was nurtured. Every member was encouraged to lean into their unique identities and pursue the upper reaches of their potential. The business grew by over 800% overall and the leadership team achieved a 50/50 gender split–a very unusual feat for martial arts businesses. She proudly and confidently wore many hats, and found enjoyment in “doing all the things for all the people all the time.”

But, whew, she was in danger of loosing her self, so… she upped her investment in self by kicking up a competition career. By 2011 she had medaled at USA Taekwondo Nationals and was truly hooked on maintaining self through athletic pursuit. She made US National Team in 2014 and 2016 and was honored to represent her country in international competition.

A major quake began shaking the foundation of her entire life in 2015 and by 2017 a full blown life-quake had shattered every facet that was previously familiar to her. With the initial tremors being felt in 2015, she had headed back to college to ensure her ability to extricate herself from her partnership, make a full pivot professionally, and financially stand on her own two feet when the quakes eventually subsided.

Additionally, back in 2012, she founded a program called Worth the Fight. Amanda was compelled to organize a group of women martial artists to design trainings, bring support, and empower community members in response to a number of highly publicized cases of rape and sexual violence against women in her home town. WTF focuses on empowering womxn to define themselves, take up all the space they desire, and move with intent through life. Self Definition is the foundational concept taught in WTF seminars.

Coincidentally coinciding with the quakes in her life in 2015, the calls for her teachings increased exponentially with the publishing of the national bestseller by Jon Krakauer, “Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town.” It felt good to contribute to her community by offering trainings that gave women tools and confidence in the otherwise fear-laced climate of the day, but the whole situation struck a wrong cord for Amanda. She was feeling largely reactive to a situation that felt like it needed a proactive solution.

On the road to defining those solutions, it became apparent to Amanda that one primary, widely-held belief was contributing to the pervasiveness of oppressions, aggressions, and violence. An adherence to a value system that situates maleness, whiteness, and straightness at the power center of public and private scenarios subjugates non-male, non-white, and non-straight identifying folks and sets them at higher risk for being the targets of race-based, gender-based, or sexuality-based aggressions.

Because of her dedication to finding solutions when a problem is presented, Amanda found her way back to higher education to immerse herself in interdisciplinary studies with an aim of gaining further tools to use in creating community-wide social change that promotes equity and inclusion. She emerged with a BA degree in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and a Master’s in Business Administration, and a dogged determination to contribute her efforts to creating changes that will empower those who are relatively less powerful in society.

With her studies all wrapped up in mid-2019, Amanda was ready to mobilize what she has learned about diversity, equity, and inclusion, organizational behavior, and organizational change. Since she had spent decades coaching and teaching thousands of humans looking to reach their human potential it was a natural fit for her to launch Raven as a resource that provides support to groups and individuals who are motivated to proactively create change that supports all of us reaching our unique human potential.

Amanda is proud to be living an authentic life where she gets to use her knowledge, skill, and unique lived experience to enhance the lives of her clients and followers as well as her friends and family.